Its success feels similar to that of "Avatar," just this sort of gormless achievement. It's like citing the longevity of Twinkies or whatever. At a certain point you just have to throw up your hands and sigh.

Its success feels similar to that of "Avatar," just this sort of gormless achievement. It's like citing the longevity of Twinkies or whatever. At a certain point you just have to throw up your hands and sigh.

"Taymor refused to develop a musical that followed the original, family-friendly Spider-Man story, which was depicted in the Marvel comic books and the hugely successful motion picture trilogy based on them. Instead, Taymor, who admits that she was not a fan of the Spider-Man story prior to her involvement with the musical, insisted on developing a dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic musical involving suicide, sex and death."

i'm as amazed that they wanted a musical based on 'the hugely succesful motion picture trilogy' of Spiderman as i am by the fact that the director wasn't a Spiderman fan. to say nothing of her only being fired after the previews, if the entire story she was telling wasn't what they wanted!

the TONYs cover a far, far smaller realm of potential nominees than any of the other big awards. Instead of an entire medium, it covers a multi-block radius, so getting it "wrong" in the nomination pool is tough.

considering Once has rave reviews and the other three noms for "costume" (Follies, Porgy & Bess, that Matthew Broderick Gershwin thing) all have more than a shred of appreciation, it seems unlikely anyone from Spidey will be approaching the stage - or more likely having their name said in a scroll of "other awards given".

considering how well the musical is doing, it's pretty possible they'll find a way to shoehorn a spot for spidey in the festivities since the tonys are still a big national ad for Broadway. Or maybe they'll just show a lot of ads.

The $75 million Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” the most expensive theatrical production in history, will close in early January after months of declining ticket sales, one of the lead producers said on Monday night. A somewhat revamped version of the show is being planned for Las Vegas in 2015, according to the producer, Jeremiah J. Harris.

The new Australian musical “King Kong” has been considering a move to the Foxwoods after “Spider-Man” closes, but no official plans are in place. The Foxwoods is expected to undergo some renovations before its next tenant moves in.

Like many producers on struggling shows, Mr. Cohl made attempts through the summer and fall to recruit star names in hopes of reviving ticket sales — in the case of “Spider-Man,” talking to the rock musicians Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons about playing the villainous Green Goblin.

“We got fairly far along with Gene, but there just wasn’t time to get him into the show quickly enough to make a difference,” said Mr. Cohl, who knew both musicians from his years as a rock concert promoter.